On Wednesday, the Kansas City Chiefs officially designated LB Justin March-Lillard as their player to return from injured reserve, which means RB Jamaal Charles will not return, even if the team makes it to the playoffs.
A few weeks ago, Adam Schefter reported that there’s a “very realistic” chance the Chiefs would get Charles back for the playoffs, despite the fact that he underwent surgery to clean up the meniscus in both of his knees earlier this season.
However, it appears as though the Chiefs are comfortable with their current running backs and would rather have some help at linebacker moving forward.
Kansas City placed him on injured reserve back in early November.
You can bet we’ll be hearing more about Charles’ future with the Chiefs during the offseason, considering that he’ll be coming off of another injury-plagued season and the Chiefs have been able to replace his production with cheaper options.
Charles, 29, is in the third year of his four-year, $28 million contract that included $8.3 million guaranteed. He stands to make base salaries of $2.75 million (2016), and $3.75 million (2017) over the remainder of the contract.
According to OverTheCap.com, releasing Charles next year would free up $7 million in available cap space while creating no in dead money.
In 2016, Charles appeared in three games and rushed for 40 yards on 12 carries (3.3 YPC) to go along with two receptions for 14 yards receiving and a touchdown.
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